"The Fiscal Cliff" Live Online Radio Debate, Sunday, Dec. 9, 1 PM EST
Nolan Chart Radio sponsors debate among four panelists: one liberal, one conservative, one centrist, and one libertarian. by Walt Thiessen
(libertarian)
Saturday, December 8, 2012
On Sunday, December 9, 2012, from 1-3 PM EST (UTC-5) we launched Nolan Chart Radio as a pilot project, beginning with a debate on the Fiscal Cliff that currently dominates America's headlines. The following Nolan Chart columnists participated as panelists:
Nita Wiggins (liberal)
Bill Gee (centrist)
Kevin Caffrey (conservative)
Kenn Jacobine (libertarian)
I served as moderator for two hours of discussion and debate on the issue. We explored the following questions:
What is the Fiscal Cliff
Why is it important?
What, if anything, should be done about it?
The one thing that is missing in political issue debates these days is actual discussion between the political camps in one location. Some readers might remember the old Point / Counterpoint debates that was a staple of CBS's "60 Minutes" program in the 1970s between James J. Kirkpatrick and Nicholas von Hoffman (later Shana Alexander). It was eventually replaced by Andy Rooney's segment on the show, but the concept was picked up years later by CNN with their "Crossfire" program.
There were two problems with the original format. First, it was too short; the original only ran for three minutes each week. Second, it failed to include viewpoints that represented a large enough segment of the audience. CNN's program eliminated the first problem by making a full program out of the debate, but they also got swallowed up by a failure to actually discuss the issue as the discussion became little more than personal attacks.
Today, we attempted to repair all these problems with our new debate and discussion format. Each camp will received a reasonably proportional amount of airtime. Personal attacks didn't even become an issue.
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The views expressed
in this article are those of Walt Thiessen only and
do not represent the views of Nolan Chart, LLC or its affiliates.
Walt Thiessen is solely responsible for the contents
of this article and is not an employee or otherwise affiliated
with Nolan Chart, LLC in his/her role as a columnist.
